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adoption, the act of establishing a person as parent to one who is not in fact or in law his child. Adoption is so widely recognized that it can be characterized as an almost worldwide institution with historical roots traceable to antiquity.

In most ancient civilizations and in certain later cultures as well, the purposes served by adoption differed substantially from those emphasized in modern times. Continuity of the male line, which could be important for political, religious, or economic considerations, was the main goal of most adoptions. Thus most adopted persons were male and many were adult, and little attention was paid to their welfare.

In contrast, modern adoption laws and practices aim to promote child welfare and are regarded as an integral part of government efforts to protect the interests of the young. This new approach became common in Europe and the United States in the period following World War I, when vast numbers of children were orphaned and the number of “illegitimate” births increased. The approach was later given scientific support by studies in psychology and sociology that stressed the beneficial influence of a stable family life on a child’s development.

The first modern adoption legislation, the Adoption of Children Act, was passed in the U.S. state of Massachusetts in 1851. It required judges to determine that adoptive parents had “sufficient ability to bring up the child” and that “it is fit and proper that such adoption should take effect.” In Great Britain adoption was not legally permitted until 1926; the delay in legislation can be attributed in part to the existence of other legal means for protecting and caring for homeless children. Several of the Commonwealth nations passed adoption laws well in advance of the British statute. In Canada, for example, adoptions were first permitted in New Brunswick in 1873, and in New Zealand the first law was enacted in 1895. Adoption of minors for the purpose of creating permanent, comprehensive bonds between parents and children is a relatively recent phenomenon in France, dating from 1923. In Germany and the Scandinavian countries, adoption laws are part of comprehensive child-welfare legislation.

The frequency of international adoptions, or adoptions of children from foreign countries, increased dramatically after World War II. The number of such adoptions, as well as the countries of origin of most adopted children, have varied with the incidence of poverty, wars, natural disasters (such as famine or disease), and large-scale human rights problems. Since the mid-20th century, thousands of children from South Korea, Guatemala, Peru, eastern Europe, various African countries, and China have been adopted by mainly American and western European parents.

In the United States the practice of interracial adoption, which primarily involved African American and Native American children and white parents, was a subject of considerable controversy during the 1970s. Critics charged that the practice deprived such children of their cultural identity and amounted to a form of “cultural genocide”; defenders argued that it promoted integration and interracial understanding and that it was much better for children than life in an orphanage or in foster care. In the late 20th century the issue continued to be addressed in court rulings and legislation. In 1978 the federal Indian Child Welfare Act required that placements of Native American children living on reservations give preference to applicants from within the child’s tribe or extended family. Another federal law, the 1994 Multiethnic Placement Act, prevented child-welfare agencies that receive federal assistance from denying or delaying an application for adoption solely on the basis of the race or national origin of the adoptive parents or child.

In the 1960s and ’70s, as attitudes toward sex and marriage in most Western countries became more permissive, the stigma traditionally attached to children born out of wedlock and to their mothers was gradually reduced. This development, along with the greater availability of birth control, contributed to a dramatic decline after about 1970 in the number of children available for legal adoption. This in turn stimulated changes in traditional restrictions on age differences between adoptive parents and children, on the income level of parents, and on the mother’s employment outside the home. Single-parent adoptions came to be accepted by a number of agencies, and in some countries there was an increasing acceptance of adoptions by same-sex couples.

Beginning in the 1970s, a growing adoptees-rights movement in the United States called for the repeal of confidentiality laws in most states that prevented adoptees as adults from viewing their adoption records, including their original birth certificates. In subsequent decades several states passed legislation that allowed adult adoptees access to their records under certain conditions, usually including the absence of a “veto” from the natural parents. In 1998 the state of Oregon passed a referendum that granted to Oregon-born adoptees 21 years of age and older an unconditional right to a certified copy of their original birth certificates.

Although adoption of adults is permitted in most countries, legal provisions are generally formulated in terms of child adoption, and the adopter must usually be an adult. The laws typically provide for the consent of any older child (commonly one over 12 or 14 years), an investigation of the suitability of the prospective home according to criteria stated in the governing statute, and a probationary period of residence in the adoptive home.

In the matter of inheritance, laws differ considerably. As a general rule, the child may inherit from the adopting parents and they from him. Inheritance by the child from his natural parents, once commonplace, is increasingly prohibited, with the exception of adoption by stepparents. In addition, there has been a tendency to broaden the child’s right to inherit from relatives of the adopting parents, though laws vary greatly on this point.

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